At Cambridge

A lot of things happened while I was at Cambridge. There were way too many thoughts and feelings and events and to simply note down, so I guess I'll tell the whole story. That's the only way it's going to make sense.

13. Thirteen

I look in the mirror at ten to seven. I went and got a dress from town today, it's just a simple, dark red bodycon dress. I didn't want to overdo it but I didn't want to under-do it. The same with my hair. And the same with my makeup. And the same with what I'm going to do when I greet George. I am over thinking this way too much. I bet he doesn't care this much. Something in my mind is just telling me this needs to go right.

"I'm going out, Lucy!" I call. I always let her know, just in case one day she actually cares.

"I don't need to know about it." she calls back. Today is not that day.

I find George sat on the side of the fountain when I get out. He stands up when he sees me, smiling at me. God he looks good, I can't deny that.

"Hi. You look amazing." he says and I blush. I blush at everything he says. It's getting a bit ridiculous.

"Thank you." I smile. I wonder if I should tell him he looks amazing too but I decide against it. "So where are we going?"

"Do you like French food?" he asks as we walk along to his car.

I shrug. "Probably."

He laughs. "Well you'll like where we're going then."

"Oh so mysterious." I tease him as he opens my door for me and then slips into the car beside me, starting it.

We get into the restaurant and I'm pretty sure we just stepped into France. People are chattering all around us but somehow it's peaceful. The lights are dim and there's this music on in the background and it smells amazing. I stare around in wonder as George talks to one of the waitresses to get us our table. He smiles at me when he looks back at me.

"You like it?"

"Are we in France? Because I don't remember getting on a plane."

He laughs. "I thought you'd like it."

We get seated at our table which is just in the corner in the most perfect way. There's already baguette in the middle of the table and we both reach for a piece as the waitress pours us both a glass of wine. We smile politely at her and thank her and once she's gone, I grin at him.

"Does she know we're not allowed that?" I ask him.

He grins back. "I don't know but I'm not complaining."

"Are you sure I can't pay for my meal?" I ask, nervously. We'd already had a big debate about it in the car. "It must be so expensive in here."

And it's just the nicest night. Some nights are more than boring and average and they're not mind blowing either, they're just nice and sometimes, that's what you need. And my date with George was really nice. We sat and talked throughout the whole meal which was beautiful and then he drove me home and walked me to the door of my dorm building.

"Thank you for tonight." I smile at him. "I really enjoyed myself."

"It's no problem, it was a lot of fun." he smiles back. "Do you think we could possibly do it again some time?"

"Definitely. I'd like to see what other restaurants you've got up your sleeve."

He laughs. "I have a few ideas. Night, Daisy."

And he leans down and kisses my cheek. And my heart flutters a little bit and I'm thankful for the dark because I'm blushing more than ever before.

"Night."

He starts walking away to his car and he turns around once more on his way, smiles at me, and then he's gone. I walk up to my room dreamily, ready to just lie down and replay the entire evening in my head but I get to the door and it's locked. I stand there knocking and calling through the door until I realise either Lucy has gone out and locked the door behind her or she is in there and refusing to let me in. I'm guessing the latter.

I hover in the corridor, unsure. It's half nine at night now, I'm not really sure where I could go. I consider going to find George again but I don't want to be a nuisance and I'm not really sure where his dorm room is anyway.

Ten minutes later, I'm reluctantly knocking on Edward's door.

He opens the door wearing tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt, holding a bowl of cereal. He looks at me for a moment, just looks at me, eating his cereal. I sigh, rolling my eyes.

"Can I come in, please?"

He smirks. "Only because I'm really interested as to why you need to."

His eyes drop down and he concentrates too much on swirling his spoon around in the bowl. I again get that thought - or hope? - that he's jealous but I do tend to make something out of nothing.

"What did you do?" he asks, quietly.

"We went for dinner in this amazing restaurant." I don't know whether I'm being so enthusiastic about it just in case he is jealous or because it was really amazing, because it was. Maybe a bit of both. "It was French, it had wine and French food and like a real violinist."

He smirks. I frown at him.

"What?" I ask.

"That sounds a bit tacky, Daisy, I'm not gonna lie." he says.

A thrill quickly runs through me. He really does seem like he's jealous and I hate that I want that. I'm so frustrated right now. All of these more than friend feelings are coming back to me right now and we're not even having a nice conversation. It's so annoying to me. All I want is to like George, the boy I could actually have without any complications but here I am feeling things for Edward and he's not even being remotely nice to me like George. He's actually being a bit of a dick and that's still enough to make me feel that way towards him? That and the actual fact that he's being so mean right now is enough to make me pissed off with him.

"It wasn't tacky." I snap. "It was beautiful."

He laughs out loud, mimicking me. "Oooh, it was beautiful, it was like we were literally in the Eiffel tower." he laughs again at his little impression. "So, I guess you're like in love with him now."

"No, don't be stupid." I narrow my eyes. "It was one date, with George who I like, and maybe I like him as more than a friend, I don't know yet."

"Great." he says, still so sarcastic about it all but it's not in a joking way. It's like he's doing it purposefully to upset me. "So where are you going next? Rome? Barcelona? The possibilities are endless with Mr Exotic."

"Will you stop saying all these mean things?" I frown at him. "I don't even know where this is coming from but you're being so mean and you're ruining it."

"Oh I'm so sorry I'm ruining your special night at Paris with your new boyfriend." he says, sourly. He's smirking though so it doesn't seem like he actually cares, just so it seems like he's being mean for no reason. I can't really believe how mean he's being.

"Oh whatever." I sigh, getting up and putting my heels back on. "I'm going to go and find somewhere else to stay. Perhaps George will let me in and be nice to me. You have fun sitting in here by yourself, being all bitter and mean just because you haven't had plans on a Friday night for five years. Maybe there's a connection between the two of those things, I'll leave you to figure it out."

He laughs out loud with a hint of sourness again. "I am more than happy with that. Be careful George doesn't drag you onto a plane for a week long vacation in Thailand, you have a history lecture first thing on Monday. We're probably safe though, in the end he'll just have taken you to some shitty little restaurant."